Criminals a concern in shelters
Hundreds of parolees, sex offenders may be among evacuees in area

07:02 AM CDT on Sunday, September 11, 2005

By JEFF MOSIER and DEBRA DENNIS / The Dallas Morning News

Hundreds of parolees, sex offenders and criminal defendants awaiting trial could be living among the thousands of hurricane evacuees in local shelters.

But in some locations, city officials have not identified those evacuees and don't know what restrictions or monitoring they had in Louisiana.

Some city officials say they don't have the staffing or system in place to fully investigate people's backgrounds.

Lisa Campbell, who is staying at the Dallas Convention Center with her 3- and 11-year-olds, said she worries about who might be sleeping next to her.

"I'm keeping a close eye on them," she said about her children. "There should be some way to find out who's there."

In the Fort Worth shelters, the lists of evacuees are being cross-referenced with registered sex offender databases.

But there are no checks to determine whether individuals are on parole or probation. Dallas officials are conducting more in-depth checks and also looking for people with outstanding warrants.

State officials say they are well aware they have a large influx of people who are in some stage of the Louisiana criminal justice system. There are nearly 14,000 people on parole or probation in New Orleans and its surrounding areas, Louisiana officials said, and 4,500 registered sex offenders were living in the 14 parishes hit by Hurricane Katrina.

No one knows how many of those past offenders are in Texas.

"We have been assisting Louisiana officials on ways to locate probationers and parolees who may have taken refuge in various shelters across Texas," said Mike Viesca, spokesman for the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

"We will immediately place those offenders under supervision."

State officials are transferring databases of parolees and probationers from Louisiana to Texas so all relevant data will be available. Toll-free numbers have also been set up in Louisiana and Texas for parolees or probationers to notify officials of their whereabouts.

Those efforts do not include people out on bail. The local court system is still struggling to recover, and the governor has suspended court proceedings throughout Louisiana through Sept. 25.

Jerry Ritchie, assistant deputy chief of the federal probation office in Dallas, said his office has set up tables at the largest area shelters and has registered dozens of people who have volunteered information about their legal status.

"These people are trying to salvage their lives," he said. "We are not trying to get them in trouble, but they need to let someone know who they are and where they are."

The system is mainly voluntary while people are still trying to get settled into their new homes or in temporary housing.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice has not yet compiled numbers of Louisiana residents who have registered with Texas parole and probation officials. Officials in both states are still working on plans to locate the parolees, probationers and sex offenders who don't notify law enforcement soon.

Terry Grisham, a spokesman for the Tarrant County sheriff's office, said tracking and identifying parolees or probationers is daunting. For now, food, housing and medical needs take precedence.

"We are having a hard enough time identifying people. Right now, we just want them safe and fed," Mr. Grisham said. "We're giving the benefit of the doubt that they're honest citizens."

Others have taken a harsher stand. At a vacant Wal-Mart in McKinney that was converted into a shelter, one evacuee was turned away because he was a registered sex offender.

"We sent him back to the bus area and wished him good luck," said Capt. Randy Roland, a police spokesman.

The man, whose name was not released, was sent back to a bus depot in Mesquite that was used as a clearinghouse for evacuees. It's not clear where he went next.

One man who recently tried to register at the Wylie shelter at a National Guard armory was arrested for having outstanding warrants in Tarrant County, said city spokesman Mark Witter.

Plano city officials considered running criminal checks, but after checking federal regulations, they believed that would require them to fingerprint everyone and send that information off for verification before allowing anyone to stay in the shelter.

Many more evacuees are staying in North Texas with family, friends or strangers who have been generous enough to offer them shelter. That also brings up questions about security.

A New Orleans man was arrested Tuesday while staying with distant relatives and charged with sexually assaulting a 13-year-old girl.

Orlando Dale Carmen, a criminal justice professor at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, said it's likely that some of these people will stay in the area and not return for trial or check in with their parole officers.

"Even during normal times, people flee," Dr. Carmen said. "You always have that problem. The difference is that you have such a big number."

Staff writers Tiara M. Ellis and Mike Jackson and The Associated Press contributed to this report.